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Posted February 2, 2013 11:26 pm - Updated January 22, 2016 03:30 pm

Letters to the Editor Sunday

Every time the ever-expanding and growing deficit is talked about, our most senior elected official begins by expressing outrage that the entitlement checks for Social Security and Medicare will have to be cut.

These are programs that the working, taxpaying citizens of the United States have paid into for their entire productive lives, and which they are now entitled to receive benefits from.

However, the other “entitlement programs” are never mentioned as being on the chopping block.

Have you ever heard someone in Washington say, “Well, I guess those with EBT cards will need to cut back this month?” Or, possibly, “Those utility payments for Section 8 housing will have to be delayed.” And Heaven forbid that anyone should ever consider discontinuing the Obamaphones.

Medicare, which takes care of senior citizens, the very people who paid into the program, is always a target. Medicaid, however, is treated like a sacred cow.

Everyone realizes that we must raise taxes to pay down this debt. It will not go away on its own.

However, I think that it is only rational to expect all of us to share equally. I will happily pay more to eliminate this crushing debt which our most recently elected president has accumulated when real entitlement reforms are implemented.

JOHN A. PARRISH

Savannah

Guns protect Americans from potential tyrants

In a letter on Jan. 25, Allen Williams aptly asked the question, “What is the meaning, today, of the Second Amendment?”

It needs to be clearly understood that the Founding Fathers of the Constitution did not write the Second Amendment as a protection for the rights of hunters, sport shooters or even gun collectors. The reason is much bigger than that.

The writers of the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment clearly saw the need back then that an armed citizenship was the only means to insure the government tyranny that existed in their world could be defended against. America was founded by those who were fleeing the government tyranny that existed throughout Europe.

Now, some 235 years later, whether you believe it or not, government tyranny still threatens the most democratic country in the world, America.

I agree the guns are different today, but the principle of a well-armed citizenship is as valid today as it was in 1776.

The citizens must be as well equipped as the oppressor who wants to take his freedoms away.

And that is the importance of the Second Amendment today; to be ready and able to defend our country against all tyranny and oppression, domestic or foreign, all the way down to the private citizen.

JOHN BAILEY

Savannah

Some providers ignore ‘living will’ instructions

While I agree wholeheartedly with Diana Huggins’ letter of Jan. 29 (“Spare your loved ones: Get a living will”), being able to actually have a loved one’s living will carried out isn’t as easy as you may think.

In trying to execute my mother’s wishes for her end-of-life care, I was appalled by the administration and personnel at the Savannah nursing home to which I had entrusted her care.

Several of the employees decided they didn’t agree with these directives and deliberately went against my mother’s instructions, which would have ended her suffering.

In fact, I had to transfer my mother to Hospice House to make certain these directives were followed, which caused our family unnecessary stress at this very difficult time.

When we trust the care of our loved ones to a facility, they have a moral and legal obligation to carry out end-of-life instructions.

However, when employees are allowed to adhere to these wishes only if they agree with them, these documents are rendered as useless as the paper on which they are written.

YVONNE R. TRAMELL

Savannah

Arming Egypt’s Morsi like arming Hitler

By the end of 2013, the United States will have “gifted” 16 F-16 fighter jets and 200 Abrams thanks to Egypt.

The leader of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, along with his followers, the Muslim Brotherhood, have loudly spewed hatred against Israel.

It pains me to quote Morsi’s assertions that Israelis are “descendants of apes and pigs.”

How can our current administration see fit to heavily arm bigot bullies? Who are we arming Morsi against?

Did not our embassy in Cairo come under attack on Sept. 11, 2012, just before our ambassador, Chris Stevens, and three other brave Americans were murdered?

Of course, Hillary Clinton declares that it makes no difference if the attack on the consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was a terrorist attack or if it sprung out of a protest against a YouTube video.

I feel like we are arming Adolf Hitler. Morsi sounds like he is on board. This is a slap in the face to all the young American boys who died in World War II to defeat Hitler. Now the administration in power will give Morsi heavy weaponry, despite his vile language and hate speech.

You’d think a black president would be more sensitive to racial hate speech. Everyone should raise their objections to Washington.

JANIS Z. CAMPBELL

Savannah

Six places to visit on Super Museum Sunday

I would like to invite my fellow Savannahians to visit the Coastal Heritage Society’s six educational and historic venues on Super Museum Sunday, Feb. 10.

The sites in the Tricentennial Park (downtown at MLK Jr. Boulevard and Louisville Road) that will be open free on Super Museum Sunday are the Savannah History Museum, the Georgia State Railroad Museum and the Battlefield Memorial Park. They will be joined this year by the Savannah Children’s Museum, next to the Railroad Museum, which opened in June.

This complex of sites is now one of the five most-visited cultural attractions in Chatham County. Super Museum Sunday will be a good time for you to come out and see our progress.

Old Fort Jackson will also be open, as well as the newest Coastal Heritage Society historic site, the Pin Point Heritage Museum. The Pin Point site is now open Saturdays and by appointment, as well as on Super Museum Sunday.

Each facility will have special programs, and we look forward to seeing you.